(NEED HELP)Buried by a haystack...bound for glory : 1968 CL450

[Whitey80]

Took a long trip up the mountain to Johnstown a month or so back....long haul with a trailer at damned near dusk up windy, blind roads...through trees and over rivers. Journey was worth it, resulting in the return of a pair of 1968 Honda CL450's to service.


Sitting in a barn, at the end a dirt mountain road, was a museum level collection of vintage motorcycles (some cafe builds from the heyday of cafe bikes). A fella as old as the mountain itself had parked them all up in the barn when he was no longer able to ride them any longer....somewhere around 1985.


Under many layers of dirt, dust, bird bits and dead spiders lay the object of my pilgrimage. I came for one, left with 2...for the same price as we'd agreed on for one.


so, without further ado.......
The bike I was originally after..fresh gas....cleaned the carbs....popped in a battery...started right up..after sitting for 25 years

Bike no. 2 (a nice bonus)
The neck was already raked to an as-of-yet determined degree...making this bad bitch ready for a frame choppin to a rigid. (wasn't nearly complete...just a frame, motor and forks really.....luckily I tend to have a lot of shit in my garage).

So the chopped up bob has a title....the soon-to-be cafe does not...gonna have to deal with that soon.

 

[Whitey80]

Re: Buried by a haystack...bound for glory : 1968 CL450

So....we've made it this far with the first bike.....made a seat (using all factory mounting and hardware....yeah, it flips up.)
Flipped the bar mounts and threw on some clubmans from my parts box. This is by no means a real direction that I'm taking, but it's fun to ride for now, while I get the parts for the real build together.

Stripped the second motor to prep for total rebuild.....looks like the old man pulled the spark plug from the right side cylinder, took a piss in it, then sealed it back up....probably somewhere around 1995. Pure rust. Took a bit of work from my giant muscles to get the cylinders off. (will post pics soon.)

 

[Tim]

Re: Buried by a haystack...bound for glory : 1968 CL450

Looking forward to seeing more - nice find!

 

[interceptor]

Re: Buried by a haystack...bound for glory : 1968 CL450

2 for 1. Can't beat that. Good score

 

[Whitey80]

Re: Buried by a haystack...bound for glory : 1968 CL450

So.....the plan is as goes:


-BCR Dolphin tank/seat combo - fiberglass, because aluminum blows the budget to hell
-My spare motor requires a full rebuild because:

And the cam chain tensioners are shot (one has no bearings, and the drive gear is devoid of teeth)


So, might as well go all out, right?......now comes a question as to what is appropriate to get maximum gains, but remain somewhat reliable and rideable?


-Talked to Moto-bits (from whom I have gotten other rearsets) and he has no problem making a set specifically for my bike for $190


-Need to just rebuild the whole bike to brand new levels (all new bearings, brakes, wheels, etc.


(as far as wheels, I know I am want some nice aluminum hoops and stainless spokes to lace to my factory hubs, anyone had any experience with different wheel manufacturers)






And colors.....here's my inspiration:

Soooooo....some combination of the gold, blue, white and red. Motors going black for certain, so may still do a black frame and do the colors relegated only to the body work, not sure, that's a bit off at the moment.

 

[IndieSol]

Re: Buried by a haystack...bound for glory : 1968 CL450

Excellent score. Love both bikes. The stance of that bobber is perfect.

 

[Maritime]

Re: Buried by a haystack...bound for glory : 1968 CL450

watch the BCR Tank There is a lot of posts recently with failures. Just make sure you get all the info. Cause this is shaping up to be a nice build. Hate to see the tank fail and wreck stuff.

 

[Whitey80]

Re: Buried by a haystack...bound for glory : 1968 CL450

watch the BCR Tank There is a lot of posts recently with failures. Just make sure you get all the info. Cause this is shaping up to be a nice build. Hate to see the tank fail and wreck stuff.

That would be a less than perfect day. Is it specifically problems with the fiberglass tanks, or all of them?

 

[Maritime]

Re: Buried by a haystack...bound for glory : 1968 CL450

Just been seeing a few posts lately on the fiberglass tanks failing.... i am trying to remember the ones on here but I have seen them on some other forums as well. People are having issues and BCR doesn't seem to be helping much. There is one on here that I read earlier today and I think it is Hedrives bike? Give me a minute I will see if I can find it.

 

[Maritime]

Re: Buried by a haystack...bound for glory : 1968 CL450

PM Hedrives Build thread with a BCR having issues. http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=11466.200

 

[ProSimex]

Re: Buried by a haystack...bound for glory : 1968 CL450

Throw the running motor into the titled bike and ride it! The rake on that thing is beautiful. Dont bother with the hardtail just yet, it's fine as it is. The cafe can wait for you to sort out the title. awesome find!!!!

 

[Whitey80]

Re: Buried by a haystack...bound for glory : 1968 CL450

Throw the running motor into the titled bike and ride it! The rake on that thing is beautiful. Dont bother with the hardtail just yet, it's fine as it is. The cafe can wait for you to sort out the title. awesome find!!!!

I have tagged the bobber bike......I kind of use it on the cafe, and I kind of ride it on the street near daily. Come on....how often do they check THAT close


The bob has just gotta have that frame cleaned up and stretched out another 4+ inches. with that rake and a 21", it looks somewhat dumb with the rear stock.....AND......with that rake and a nearly stock front end, it puts that thing LOOOOOWWW.....the back ain't low like that.

 

[ProSimex]

Re: Buried by a haystack...bound for glory : 1968 CL450

meh, do what ever you want but just make sure your having fun doing it!

 

[Whitey80]

Re: Buried by a haystack...bound for glory : 1968 CL450

Having a starting issue....little trouble figuring it out.


Ran great then was heading home the other day, and it sputtered and died while running down my street.
Know it has some problems charging already. But currently can't get it running again. Only fires up the left side cylinder. Have some spark on the right, but is pretty weak. Tested all the parts (as far as I am able or know how by the clymer) and all seem fine, coils are fairly new.



Thoughts??
Should I try swapping the coils, side-to-side, or is there some other rout I should take first?

 

[andycafe]

are you using new plugs? sounds like a good idea to just switch packs....

 

[Whitey80]

Yeah, plugs are good, tried a couple of sets to be sure. Will swap the coils soon.
Spent some of today reassembling the head of the second motor. Damn the bastard that created torsion bar valve springs! Will post photos of the rebuild shortly.